Means for generating helices of varying depth



J. E. KLINE Sept. 1 I, 19 45.

MEANS FOR GENERATING HELIGES 0F VARYING DEPTH 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Ot. 2, 1942 M Hw R Q & 5% R INVENTOR 17 I fzz lfe.

A TTORNE Y5.

5st 21, 1945. J. E. KLINE 2,384,625

MEANS FOR GENERATING HELICES OF VARYING DEPTH Filed 001:. 2, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 5 2 El E.

Z 72 k4 7a INVENTOR BY 2;. an)

ATTORNEYS.

Patented Sept. 11, 1945 MEANS FOR GENERATING HELICES or VARYING DEPTH John E. Kline, Grosse Point Farms, Micln, assignor' to Micromatic Hone Corporation, Detroit, Mich, a corporation of Michigan Application October 2, 1942, Serial No. 460,480

10 Claims.

This invention relates to methods and devices for producing straight or helical grooves or varying depth and particularly to a method and device for rotating a, machining element in predetermined relation to axial movement during.

the time it is advanced and retracted radially.

In the copending application of John E. Kline,

Serial No. 455,712, filed August 22', 1942, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention,

a method and device is illustrated for producing.

helices. The helices may be grooves of a gun barrel having helical lands therebetween, or may be splineways on the interior or exterior surfaces of a workpiece.

Th invention of said application embodied a,

honing tool having one or a plurality of honing stones disposed on the angle of the helix on which the grooves are to be machined. A drum was provided on the head of the machine which moved the tool in rotation to have it followv the. lead of the helix as the tool was axially advanced relative to the workpiece. A pair of cables were wound in opposite directions about the drum and were extended over pulleys on the carriage of the machine and secured at their ends to opposite end of the machine. The alternating rotation produced by the axial movement of the tool conformed to the helix angle of the groove or grooves to be machined thereby. The advantage of using the drum overmaster lead bars resides in the fact that the honing could be accomplished on the present commercial machines, backlash was entirely eliminated, and no complicated or costly lead bar was necessary.

The invention contained in the above application is materially extended by the additional structure employed for varying the depth of the grooves as they are machined or finished by the honing stones of the tool. This has beenv accomplished by adding to the device, structure similar to that illustrated and described in. the

John E. Kline Patent No. 2,200,506, issued May 14, 1940, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention. This structure moves the adjusting element of the tool longitudinally-to progressively change the radial position of the stones as the tool is advanced or retracted through the bore. The grooves honed in the gun barrel have greater depthat the breech end than at the muzzle end for the purpose of maintaining the seal of the rotating band of a projectile as effectively at the muzzle as at th breech. The area of groove is reduced in at least as great a degree as the wear of the metal of the ring in the groove as it approaches the muzzleof the gun and will thus maintain a tight seal throughout the length of the gun barrel. This materially increases the muzzle velocity of the projectileby preventing the escape of the pressure gases and prolongs the efiective life of the gun barrel.

Accordingly, the main objects of th invention are: to generate a helix by relating the reciprocation of the tool or workto its rotation and varying the radial position of the cutting elements thereof for varying the depth of the helical slot produced thereby; to hone helical grooves bya device having means for varying the depth of the grooves from one to-the other end thereof; to hone a plurality of helical grooves in a workpiece whil varying the radial positions of the stones to progressively vary the depth of the grooves from one to the other end of the workpiece;.and in general, to provide a method and device for machining a groove of varying depth in a workpiece which is simple in construction,

positive in operation, and economical of manu- Other objects and ieatures of novelty of the invention will be either specifically pointed out or will become apparent 'when referring, for a better understandingof'the invention, to the following description taken 'in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, "wherein:

Figure 1 is a broken plan viewof a machine for honing helical slots of variable depth, which embodies features of .theinvention; I

Fig. 2 is an enlarged broken sectional view of the adjusting and driving portion of the machine illustratedin Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the machine illustrated in Fig. 1, taken on the line 3---3 thereof Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view ofstructure, similar to that illustrated in Fig. 1, showing a further form of the invention; and

Fig. 5 is a'view of structure similar to that illustrated in Fig. 1 showing a still further'form which this invention may assume.

Referring to Fig. 1,-a honing machine i0 is illustrated having abed H on whicha table I2 may be reciprocated. The table supports a driv- ..ing head I3 having a recess'in which a shank M on one end of a drum 15 is inserted for rigidly supporting the drum. The drum l5 rotates upon the shank l4 and is provided with a pair of sets wound in ropposite directions The head, l3 has a bracket 2| secured thereto on which a plurality of pulleys 22 and 23 are pivotally supported on pins 24. The cables I8 and I9 extend over the pulleys 22 and 23, respectively, and their ends are secured to adjustable eye-bolts 25 and 26 at opposite ends of the bed ll. Nuts 21 on the end of the eye-boltstake up, the slack in.the.c ables .l 8 and ISandi retainnthem taut overfthe pulleys and about the sheave portions of the drum IS.

The drum is provided with a tool-receiving 091-.

let 28 in which the driving end 29 oi the tool3l is secured. The driving end 21 f the-tooljs hel T low and an adjusting rod 32 extends e therethrough, as illustrated morehclear ly in. Fig. The end of the adjusting redwabutslagainstthe. rod 33 which extends from the head l3-and; 'is" secured to the piston 34. The piston 34 operates in a cylinder 35 to center and provide stability to the rod 33. piston in accordance with this invention will be explained more fully-hereinafter."

The rod 32- extends through theu'niversal joint 31 on the driving end 29 of the tool-'whichis secured by pins 38 to the end or 'a-driving tube- 39.

A pin- 4| extends through the rod 32, through a slot 42 in the tube 39, and into an outer sleeve 43 which extends thereover. An internally-threaded collar 44 is rotatably secured to theend of the sleeve 43 by a plurality of 'balls'45 which are retained in position by a collar 46' which is secured to the sleeve by pins I'll-Q The threads 48"of the sleeve 44 engage the threads-49 on'a'sleev il disposed over the tube 39;- A=pin 52 extends through a slot 53in the tube 39 and through a block 54 disposed within the tube. 3 An adjusting rod 531s threaded into theend of the block 54 extend-s'the entire length ofthe tube 39 to the body of the tool-containing the stones 36.' A spring-pressed ball 56 securesthe pin 52-against axial movementwhilda springpressed ball 51"is employed for-retainingthe sleeve 44 in adjusted position. By'rotating the sleeve 44, the sleeve is extended or retractedso as toextend or retract the adjusting rod"555 The tube 39"is' connected 'by'a -'universa1= connection 61 i to toolbody- 62' which has ;a series" of apertures therein which are helically disposed with reference to the body axis: Stone holders carrying the stones SIS- are di'sposedwithi'n the slots for radial movement." Within the body, tapered members are providedforengaging the stone holders andmoving themoutwardly-when th'erod 33' is advanced tothe 'left'as viewed in the figure. When the rod 'is movedin the opposite direction, the pressure-on thestones is released and'these may retract or' be retractedby suitable spring means.- The tool'followsthe'construction of that illustrated and described 'in -the copending' application of J? El Kline andC'. S. White which was assigned to the assignee'of the present invention. r I A cradle63 is-employedadjacent to the-end of thegun barrel 64 for receiving the end of the honing tool when the tool is withdrawn from the barel. The extending frame 65-ofthe base H has a plurality of supporting brackets 63 upon which the barrel is clamped in substantiallyalignedrelation' with the tool 31'. The universal connections at the drivinghead '3-1"and"th"e tool body 6| permit the misalignment oftheaxis of the 'barrel with that of the tool-during the honing-operation. This eliminates the necessitybf attempting to accurately align the aidsof th'eshank 14 or its path of traverse with that-efthe bar'reli Referring to -Fig. 4} afurther form of the in;

The structure for operating the,

vention is illustrated wherein the head I 3 supports an arbor H on which a spider 12 is secured by keys 13. The spider carries a plurality of gears '14, preferably four or more in number, to

5 form an even number of gears for a purpose which will be explained more fully hereinafter.

. Ahousinglicarries aninternalgear 16, the

t'ee'th of which are in mesh withthe teeth of the pinion gears 14; A sleeve" contains an external ll); gear 18, the teeth of which are also in mesh with the pinions 14. The sleeve has a drum 19 secured theretos'bykeysll and has on its outer face the -sheave portions 82 and 83, the leads of the groovesof-whichareboth right or both left hand, dependingupon the hand of helix to be generated. The-sleeve H has an internally projecting pin 84 which extends into a helical groove 85, the lead of which is the same as the lead of the grooves inthe sheaves so that the drum will advance along the arbor H to maintain the cable grooves in tangential alignment with the pulleys in H9 and I2! in all positions of the drum.

-A-set of radial thrust bearings 86 supports the -housing T5'-'on-tlie arbor "H while the extending 5 portion 81"of the housing has bearing relation with the sleeve 11. An adjusting rod 88 extends through 'the arbor H, with one end abutting against the piston rod 33j-in the head l3, the otherend of which abuts against the adjusting rod 32'of the tool. V

- The pinions 14 are mounted on'shafts 88, the ends 9i and 92-of which are mounted eccentric to the central body portion so that the axes of alternate pinions 14 may be annularly offset in one -direction while other intermediate pinions 74 may be annularly ofiset in the opposite direction to bear against opposite sides of the teeth of the gears 16 and '!8{so as to entirely eliminate any backlash which would otherwise exist therebetween. This adjustment is made by turningthe shafts 89 atthe heads 93 provided on the ends thereof. 1 I

"A tool receiving adapter 94 is securedto the end of the housing 15 by pins 95. The driving "end 29 of the tool may be secured'in thehead 94 in the same manner as the-driving end was secured to the head 38-0f the drum illustrated in "Figs-- 1" and 2. -When a barrel 'is to haveslots honedtherein which are of considerable length of 0 leadpone-that would require a drum of large diameter, if thestructure of Fig. 1 were employed, the-structure illustrated 'in Fi'g. 3 is utilized instead; Thesmaller drum 1! may make any number of revolutions during one revolution of the tool, depending upon the relation of the'sun gear -18't'o' the inter'nalgear l6 and the number of turns to be made within the length of the barrel. If a three to one relation exists'between' the rotation ofthe drum 1'9" and housing liythen the nominal diameter of the drum 19 maybe onethird thatfof the diameter of a drum which would be er-nployed-iif adirect'drive were utilized between the drum and the adapter 94. In this manner, 'the large cumbersome drum, which would Otherwise be required; is eliminated. V

Backlash will beentirely eliminated from between; the cables and drum, by suitably tensioning the former. and also from between the gears by utilizing the sets of gears which may be offset inopposite dlrectionsto eliminate anyQplay mtween the teeth. When the'dru'm is' rotated as a resultof'thead'vanceof table l2, the-gear TBis caused to rotate and drive the pinions 14 on sta- 'tionary axes and they in turn'drive the ring gear "16 which rotates thehousing 15 at a speed in predetermined ratio and in the opposite direction to that of the gear I8. This rotates the tool supporting adapter 94 and the tool in predetermined timed relation to the advancement of the table I2 and 'the'tool 3|. 7

Referring to Fig. 5, a drum 96 is illustrated having two sheave portions 91 and 98 which are of spiral helical form and which may be substituted for the drums I5 or I9 above referred to. One or a plurality of cables I are Wound around each of the sheaves having one end of said cables secured'thereto at the major diameter of one sheave and at the minor diameter of the other sheave and the other ends of the cables extending to the rear at the points 99 and IOI.=

A drum of this particular type will progressively change the speed of rotation of the tool relative to its movement in reciprocation so that an accelerating or increasing lead may be provided to the grooves in the barrel of the gun, which is delands between such slots will produce very little turning of the shell near the breech and will increase to maximum turning at the muzzle. By having both of the sheave portions 9! and 98 exactly alike, whether they are of constant or va-' riable spiral angle, the cables are maintained taut-at all times so that no backlash will be present in the tool as it is ieciprocated through the barrel. 1

Referring again to'Figures 1 and 3, the piston 34 has a rearwardly projecting sleeve II)! in which a threaded stud I02 projects. A nut I03 locks the stud to the sleeve in adjusted position. A

pipe I05 communicates with the cylinder and is connected to a source of fluid under pressure by a flexible conduit I05. A suitable packing gland (not shown) seals the rod 33 in the forward end of the cylinder 35.

A bracket IIA carried by the head I3 has a dovetailed slot H5 in which the dovetail II6 of a carriage II! is retained by a gib H8. A spring II9 urges the carriage II'I toward one side of the machine. A stud I02, projecting from the piston 34, has a head I2I which is bifurcated to receive a roller I22, the peripheral edge of which operates in a slot I23 in the carriage Ill. The slot I23 is disposed at an angle and advances or retracts the stud I02 axially when moved transversely there- The carriage iII has a stub shaft I24 on which a roller I25 is pivotally secured projecting therefrom on the end opposite to that against which the spring II9 engages. The roller I25 operates in a slot I26 on the angularly disposed face of a cam element I21 which has one end pivoted at I28 to the bed of the machine and the other end adjustably secured thereto by a bolt I29 which projects through a slot IZI therein. As the carriage I2 is advanced along the bed I! of the machine, the roller I25, operating in the slot I26 of the cam element I21, will move the carriage III laterally of the bed against the tension of the spring H9. The roller I22 in the angularly disposed slot I23 in the carriage II! will be advanced along with the stud I 02 to the left against the pressure of the fluid from the pipe I04, in the direction of movement of the table !2, and will produce the progressive outward feeding of the stones 36 of the tool 62 as the tool is moved from the muzzle to the breech end of the gun.

stones to contract and the I When the movement'of the table I-2 is-reversed, the-carriage II! will be urged toward the side of" the machine on: which 'the element I21 .is secured and the fluid inthe cylinder 35 will move the sleeve IOI and'thehead I02 =.to the right as the roller I22 is retained in the slot dimension after Whichthe sleeve 44 isturned in the opposite direction to permit the abrasive tool to be removed from thebarrel. 1

The grooves within the .barrel .are disposed upon a desired helix, which'may be constant throughout the length of the gun barrel or which may accelerate from the breech to the muzzle end, and vary in depth so as .to .begreater at the breech end than at thev muzzle end-of the gun barrel. The honing operation produces finished surfaces and maintains the desired width to the slots and to the lands which remain therebetween. While a gunbarrel has been :referred to specifically herein, it is to be understood that such reference was made byfway" of illustration and not for limiting the invention to this specific application.

What is claimed is: I

1. The combination. with a tool, of means for moving said tool axially, means for rotating said tool in timed relation to said axial-movement, a radially adjustable element 'onsaid tool for machining a slot in said element as it is rotated and. axially advanced, an axially shiftable member in said tool for adjusting said element, and means for engaging and shifting said shiftable member for progressively varying the radial position of said element relative to the tool axis during the advancing movement.

2. In a honing machine, a reciprocable carriage, a tool supported by said carriage, a radially adjustable cutting element on said tool, means for rotating said tool in timed relation and in opposite directions synchronized with the reciprocation of the carriage, an axially shiftable member in said tool for adjusting said element, and means for engaging and shifting said shiftable member continuously during the tool reciprocation for progressively moving the cutting elements of the tool radially in alternate directions timed to coincide with the alternate directions of movement of said carriage.

3. In a honing machine, a reciprocable carriage, a rotatable drum on said carriage, a honing tool rotated by said drum and having abrasive elements, a pair of cables having one of their ends secured to the machine and their other ends secured to said drum and wound thereon in opposite directions for rotating said drum and tool as the table is reciprocated, means for adjusting the abrasive elements of the tool radially, and additional means for progressively advancing said elements radially as the tool is moved in one direction of its cycle of reciprocation.

4. In a honing machine, a reciprocable carriage, a rotatable drum on said carriage, a honing tool rotated by said drum and having abrasive elements, a pair of cables having one of their ends'secured: to the'machineandtheir other ends secured to said drum and wound thereon in opposite directionsfor rotating said drum and tool asith'e table is'reciprocated; means for-adjusting the abrasive elements'of the tool radially, additional means for progressivelyadvancing; said elements as the tool is moved in one direction of-its cycle of reciprocation; and for progressively retracting said elements as'the tool ismoved in the opposite direction.

5. The combination with a (3001- having a radially movalble machining; element, means for reciprocating saidtool a;=drum connected to said tool, a. pair ofcableshaving one of theirends secured to the machines and .their other ends wound-about thedrum in opposite directions for oscillatively rotating saidstool when the tool is reciprocated. and means for' radially' advancing and retracting the machining element of the tool in timed relation to the direction of movements in reciprocation.

6; The combination of a honin tool-having a plurality of annularly disposed helically positioned radiallvmovable abrasive: stones;v means for: reciprocating saidtool, means foroscillatively rotating said-tool: in timed-relation with its reciprocation, and means-for progressively movingsaidabrasive" stones toward andfrom the axis. of 'the toolin timed relation .to its directions of'movement'in reciprocation, said'last means embodyinganaxially shiftable adjusting element carried. by said'tool which is continuously shifted by said" moving? means duringthe tools; movement in reciprocation.

7. The combination WithIa' toolhaving a radially movable machining element; a: drumfurrotatingisazld. tool 1 as it is moved axially; a? gear unit disposed between saiddrurn and tool for driving said tool at a" difierent speed1from that of the drum, means for adjusting said machining element toward andfrom theaxis of the tool in. timed relation to the directions of movements 0d the tool in reciprocation.

8. The combination with a tool having'a radially adjustable machining element, a drum for rotating'said tool as it is moved axially; said drum having a pair of like sheaves ofspiral helical form for producing avarying speed. of rotation of the tool relative to its longitudinal movements in reciprocation, and means for moving said machining element toward and. from the axis of the tool in timed relation to its opposite movements in reciprocation.

9. The combination with a tool having aradially adjustable machining element, a drum for rotating-'saidtool, said drum having a. pair of like sheaves of spiral helical form, a gear'nnit disposed between said drumand tool, cables wound on said sheaves in opposite directions, and means for moving said machining element toward and fromthe'axis of thetool in. timed relation to its opposite movements inreciprocation.

10. In a honing machine, a reciprocablecarriage; a head on said carriage, a-drum on said head mounted for rotation relative thereto, a honing tool supported by saiddrum, radially adjustable' abrasive stones carried by said tool, a pair of cables woundaround the drum and secured at their ends-for rotating the drum as the carriage is moved in reciprocation,- a rod extending through said tool- \for adjusting the abrasive elements radially, and means for moving said rod for progressively adjusting the abrasive stones either outwardly or inwardly of the axis ofthe tool conforming to the direction of its cycle of reciprocation.

' JOHN E. KLINE. 

